Then I got an email, from a very long, long-time blog reader and wonderful friend.
“I am sending you a book”, she wrote among other kind and loving words.
IT CAME!
I love Mary Oliver’s poems!
Love them!
Thank you so much CRay!
We might (you and I) un-ravel once in a while. As Mary Oliver says so beautifully.
Being in and of the earth is healing.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Something that happens in the Fall, is a true mystery to me.
The birds leave!
All the Summer Song Birds!
There is not one left.
Although, we do have some birds who stay here, but they aren’t the same sweet tasting sounding birds of Summer. Boy, don’t let Mom know I wrote that…I crossed it out so she can’t see. Do NOT tell her! Eating birds is something that ALWAYS gets me in trouble.
If Mom sees my catch one, she runs very fast and scares me so I drop the bird. Then Mom grabs the bird and takes it someplace where I can’t find it.
Mom and I have a thing about Me eating birds!!!
Anyway, the birds leave.
And lots of bugs seem to leave, although those nasty wasps seem to stay year-round.
And Spiders.
We never get rid of spiders. I got a spider bite so bad Mom had to take me to the vet.
Anyway, the next installment will be the WORK of AUTUMN!
TLC Cai-Cai
Sometimes I need an answer…
Something beyond what I know.
I need a sense of peace; filled with hope.
I need an answer or at least a direction
I can imagine…
You, too, have that awful need seeping in you and around you at times.
Then the circle completes itself and there is understanding and a way forward— again.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Now that the cows have gone, the Equines get the run of the farm
So much fun! This opportunity to race across the acres
And munch and munch on the sprigs of green starting to show here and there.
A Happy Way of Being!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Sit quietly with me please
Watching the Sandhill Cranes picking through the cow poop
Watch in silence; no one likes to be disturbed at breakfast.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Fall announces itself with the first, very cooling, very refreshing rain. That can happen anytime after September into October.
You see, September is still HOT here. Maybe not as hot as October, but it still is warm enough Mom is singing a happy song.
As September drifts along (yes, Dad and I think September moves slowly, the nights start to cool down, then the days get slightly cooler until we get to OCTOBER!
Now if you were to look upon the mountains surrounding our mesa you could see the ‘Colors starting to change. Seeing the colors change means for certain and sure we are in AUTUMN!
By the last Sunday of September, the colors in the mountains are ‘at their peak’ causing everyone who lives below the colors to ‘take a drive’. To see the colors, as they say.
Here on the farm, September means the last of the irrigation is being accomplished. First, one cornfield is finished up (Dad watches the corn kernels to see how hard they are—if they are hard, hard, hard that means the corn can not take in any more water. The plant is done. Finished for the growing season. To keep watering is just a waste of time and effort.) Then the next cornfield and so on, until all the cornfields are DONE for THE Year!
After that, all irrigation is concentrated on the alfalfa fields.
Alfalfa has a GREAT BIG TAPROOT, that must have a nice drink of water to go into the winter. Or the plant will die. Also, Dad likes for the alfalfa plant to have a nice growth on top, several inches of growth to help the plant survive.
After a heavy freeze comes then the plant is sleeping safely for next year. That is when the cows arrive to munch down the alfalfa leaves.
Anyway, back to Autumn. Autumn comes here when all the Cottonwoods turn to gold, the days are warm (NOT HOT) and the nights are cool.
As October progresses to November Mom starts hauling in firewood to make warm toasty fires in the evening.
Oh, yes. Fall smells good. The weeds are drying down, the trees are dropping their leaves, the sporadic rains cleanse the earth.
Fall. It also means HARVEST!
We will leave Harvest for the next installment of the Seasons. Along with more of my thoughts on weather.
Until then—
TLC Cai-Cai
Spring isn’t far off now
I can see it in the shadows.
Whispering of more sun, warmer days
Winter’s landscape gradually changing!
YAY!
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Okay. I’ve put it off long enough. Summer can mean—Drought.
Drought is some pretty awful stuff. Everything wilts, and I do mean everything…except the coyotes. They never wilt.
EVER!
Drought is a humongous dry spell. Once it starts it never seems to leave.
Although, Mom says it can be broken.
Ya…I wonder.
What’s bad about drought it kills all the good stuff, which leaves space for all those pesky weeds to spring up and grow.
Weeds are the coyotes of the plant world.
Kochia weed can grow taller than DAD and Dad is 6’2” tall.
That is some weed!
Then when it dries down in the winter it
becomes a tumbling, giant, scare the heck out of you.
Well, that’s all for Summer. Next on the list is Fall. Or Autumn or finally COOLER WEATHER!
TLC Cai-Cai
The snow illuminated the melt
The shadows caressed the snow
The air crisp and sharp on our skin
A sweet little bird sat atop the ‘to be split wood’
Seeing the view is like a gift to your soul.
Time to come in, Terry!
The sky is tumbling snow.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Now that the cows have gone
The Sandhill Cranes have arrived
Filling all the fields with their achingly beautiful selfs
And the sound of their trilling calls resonating in the air.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 